What page should be linked to

The main page or more relevent subpage?

[baze22]

I have a directory/portal for, that's right, widgets. It's a mega widget (megawidgets.com) site and covers various colored widgets. The main page is linked to several sub sections of the site: megawidgets.com/blue, megawidgets.com/red, etc. Each of these subsections has enough info to actually be a site unto itself.

My question is this: I will have different widget manufacturers & retailers link to me for whatever benefits I have to offer that would make it worth their while to do so. So, given that they want to link to me for these benefits, what is the most advantageous way to have them link to me? Have all link to the main page or have each niche link to the most appropriate subsection (red widget manufacturers link to megawidgets.com/red)? And why?

Thanks,

baze

[troels nybo nielsen]

It is certainly best to have inbound links that are as precise and relevant as possible. Both search engines and human visitors will appreciate that.

Also it is good to have many "deep" links because this will help your websites being crawled in depth by search engines.

And one last factor: diversification. The more different pages on your website with inbound links from other websites, the better.

[baze22]

It is certainly best to have inbound links that are as precise and relevant as possible. Both search engines and human visitors will appreciate that.
Also it is good to have many "deep" links because this will help your websites being crawled in depth by search engines.

And one last factor: diversification. The more different pages on your website with inbound links from other websites, the better.

This makes sense and agrees with my initial thoughts. The question in my mind that made me pause was, "If I have 20 sub categories, is it "better" to have 100 inbound links each pointing a given category, or 2000 inbound links all pointing to the home page?"

And even then "better" for what? Getting spidered deeply? Or better placement in serps? My wife says I'm overly-analytical, maybe she's right. ;)

thanks,

baze

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

I would think that it depends on how competitive a phrase is and how badly you want to rank for it.

Also remember that it is useless spending all that time on links if the keyword in question hardly gets searched.

If you know that a keyword gets a good amount of searches, and you really want to get to the top for it, you get more links to it, (corresponding with how competitive it is).

All the Best,

C.K.

[buckworks]

Also remember that it is useless spending all that time on links if the keyword in question hardly gets searched.

I partly disagree with that. It would depend on who those few searchers are! If a term is exactly right for reaching your target audience, then it's the one to aim for, even if it's not a busy search amongst the population at large.

When you gain links from new sources, that gets more Page Rank circulating throughout your site. That will help you rise in the ranks for searches besides the term(s) you're actually targeting. Links to internal pages help that way, just as much as links to the home page.

Finally, always remember that good links can send well-targeted human visitors directly to your site. More is always better.